Drunk drivers make our highways and roads here in the Williamsport area much more dangerous. They put us and our families at risk. In the Williamsport area, intoxicated motorists have shattered countless lives by choosing to drive drunk instead of calling a friend or a rideshare service. When their senseless negligence results in injury or loss of life, they must face full accountability.
You need an experienced Williamsport drunk driving accident lawyer if a drunk driver has turned your life upside down.
At the Waffenschmidt Law Firm, we believe drunk drivers should not be punished just criminally. We know how to hold them accountable for the financial and emotional destruction they inflict on others.
We've witnessed the lifelong impact a drunk driving crash has on the lives of others, and we will fight relentlessly for the compensation you need and deserve.
How Bad Is the Drunk Driving Problem?
Drunk driving kills 37 people every day in the U.S., according to federal safety statistics. That’s one person whose life ended with someone else’s bad decision every 39 minutes.
For every person killed by a drunk driver, dozens more become severely injured. Sadly, recent years show this deadly trend moving in the wrong direction. Fatal drunk driving collisions have risen more than 14% in recent years and are at their highest levels in nearly two decades.
Alcohol severely impairs a person's ability to operate a vehicle safely. A person’s blood alcohol level isn’t always below the legal limit before they exhibit decreased reaction times, lack of coordination, blurred vision, and impaired judgment and decision-making abilities. That’s an important consideration for anyone in Pennsylvania.
In this state, drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or more are legally intoxicated. However, authorities can arrest drivers with a BAC of .05% or higher if they fail sobriety tests. Police will arrest commercial drivers with a BAC of .04%. Pennsylvania's Zero-Tolerance Law puts the legal threshold at .02% for anyone under 21.
The more one drinks, the worse their impairments become, causing loss of vehicle control, inability to process information about the driving environment, drastically reduced vision and hearing acuity, and a complete lack of reasoning skills.
How Does Alcohol Affect Drivers?
Driving requires split-second decisions, hand-eye coordination, and the ability to react quickly to changing road conditions. An impaired driver cannot safely operate their vehicle or respond appropriately to hazards. This greatly increases the risk of causing a serious or fatal crash.
Alcohol also causes drivers to take unnecessary risks, such as:
- Excessive speeding
- Inconsistent speeds
- Veering out of traffic lanes, weaving
- Running red lights
- Dangerous lane changes and turns
- Passing out or falling asleep at the wheel
- Failure to use headlights
How Much Compensation Can I Claim for My Injuries?
Drunk driving accidents have an impact that ripples far beyond the immediate accident. The true costs of these careless accidents are staggering. Estimating all the past, present, and future costs our clients and their families face is part of the work our Williamsport drunk driving accident lawyers do. We want to recover the compensation you deserve to move forward.
Drunk driving crashes cause catastrophic injuries such as:
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Spinal cord damage
- Internal bleeding
- Broken bones
- Lacerations
- Debilitating pain
- Disfigurement that destroys self-confidence and relationships
The lifetime cost of treating these severe injuries easily reaches into the millions of dollars for a single victim. Health insurance often covers only a portion, leaving survivors facing immense out-of-pocket costs.
Our Williamsport drunk driving accident lawyers take every consideration into account when calculating your damages.
Many injuries require:
- Emergency surgery
- Weeks or months of hospitalization
- Extensive rehabilitation and therapy
- Home medical care
- Home alterations to accommodate medical care and equipment
The financial impacts do not stop at medical bills.
The financial losses that our personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers estimate for clients include:
- Inability to return to work
- Lost wages and future earnings potential
- Depleted savings and retirement funds as expenses mount
Some of the most severe drunk driving accident injuries are non-physical and emotional ones, especially if the accident claimed someone you loved. It’s hard to put a price on that kind of pain, but we know that price is high.
Some of the non-physical injuries we quantify for damages are:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
In wrongful death cases, families can also seek:
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral/burial expenses
- Loss of future income/financial support the deceased would have provided
Punitive damages are meant to punish the drunk driver. In some cases, Pennsylvania law allows victims of drunk driving accidents to seek punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages. The court awards punitive damages to victims on top of damages for economic and noneconomic losses.
Should I Talk with the At-Fault Driver’s Insurance Company After a Drunk Driving Accident?
The short answer is no. You are under no obligation to speak with the at-fault driver's insurance company if a drunk driver has injured you. Remember, the insurers have one priority - minimizing what they pay on claims to protect their profits. They seldom act in your best interest – unless they are forced to.
That is where a Williamsport drunk driving accident lawyer should come into play. Contact The Waffenschmidt Law Firm as soon as possible after a crash. The at-fault driver's insurance company will likely call you and attempt to settle.
They will try to get you to make statements that downplay the severity of your injuries. They may even try to get you to accept a quick, low settlement before you realize the full extent of the damages. All of these are red flags and can greatly diminish your compensation.
Our experienced drunk driving accident lawyer will handle all communication and negotiations with the insurers so you don't have to. We are here to protect your claim and maximize its value. Besides, the aftermath of a drunk driving accident is traumatic enough.
Let The Waffenschmidt Law Firm take that burden from you so you can focus on recovering and moving forward.
Speak With a Williamsport Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer at The Waffenschmidt Law Firm Today
When a drunk driver has turned your life upside-down, you need a Williamsport drunk driving accident lawyer with the experience, tenacity, and compassion to get you back on your feet.
At The Waffenschmidt Law Firm, our respected team has spent decades fighting for the rights of injured victims and their families. We understand the physical, emotional, and financial devastation these senseless accidents cause - and we take drunk drivers to task to ensure they are held fully accountable.
While no amount of money can undo trauma, securing full compensation provides relief for all the hardships you and your family are enduring. You need a firm willing to go up against big insurance companies.
Our drunk driving accident attorneys:
• Have the experience and resources to build a successful case
•Gather and leverage every shred of evidence
• Pull out all the stops in settlement negotiations
• Stand prepared to take cases to trial if needed
• Never back down until you get all the compensation you deserve
Don't wait to get the legal help you need after a drunk driving accident. Call The Waffenschmidt Law Firm at (570) 505-3015 today for a free, no-obligation consultation. Our team of Williamsport personal injury lawyers will review your case, answer your questions, and explain your best options for moving ahead.